By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Rodrigo García
Starring: Annette Benning | Cherry Jones | Jimmy Smitts | Kerry Washington | Naomi Watts | Samuel Jackson | Shareeka Epps
Country: spain, united_states
Year: 2010
Running time: 125
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1121977/
Michael says: “Rodrigo García is so clearly a writer/director who knows how to create dramatic stories about women, and we can always use more filmmakers like that. He also lets some beautiful performances by women and men shine through beautifully on film. In MOTHER AND CHILD, he’s got three terrific actresses, Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Kerry Washington, playing women in very different places when it comes to children. Bening plays Karen, a woman bearing the burden of having given a daughter up for adoption when she was 14. She is single and caring for her ailing mother, but can’t get past the loss of her only child. Naomi Watts plays Elizabeth, Karen’s daughter, a driven, controlling lawyer who is ambitious and independent, uninterested in starting a relationship, much less starting a family. They both live in L.A., yet neither have sought out the other. Kerry Washington plays Lucy, a young married woman who is unable to bear children, so seeks to adopt. How her story becomes intertwined with the other women is part of this beautifully crafted story.
“Bening, Watts and Washington are all outstanding, giving award-worthy performances, but the great acting doesn’t end there. Samuel Jackson, as Elizabeth’s boss, and Jimmy Smitts, as a co-worker who is interested in Karen, turn in realistic and true performances that truly enhance the film. It was also nice to see Shareeka Epps (HALF-NELSON) in a supporting role as the birth mother of the child Lucy intends to adopt. In addition to the acting, García’s script is so eloquent and so natural that it propels MOTHER AND CHILD far beyond TV-movie-of-the-week fodder and turns it into near poetry. We’ve got a screener of this film, so I highly recommend you try to catch it. 5 cats”